Arrows
by morgn
Summary: "Isn't cupid meant to be all, I dunno, light and love?" "Do you roast chestnuts and nip people's noses? Dude, I will kick your ass." "...I like her." [ROTG fanfiction copyright -sopheee]
1. Chapter 1

"C'mon, _c'mon,_ just kiss her, I already did most of the work," she remarked, brushing mounds of leaves and twigs from her locks as she watched the awkward teenager from beneath the sweeping fingers of a willow tree, wondering how on earth he could be falling over himself. She sighed in slight annoyance, and brought the cup of hot chocolate to her lips again.

"Seriously, I've gotta thing after this in England," she muttered, stretching her long legs out on the grass. Her cerulean blues narrowed as he hesitantly took hold of the girl's hand, who blushed under the touch. Grinning, and flexing her fingers around the cup, she gave a slight whistle. From between her cherry red lips, a puff of air slipped out, fogging in the sweet freeze of January.

It wafted towards the teenager, who was just pulling his hand back, and he blinked as the soft tendrils of Cupid's magic surrounded him in a haze of warmth. Grinning, unnatural confidence flooded his veins and his arm snaked around the shorter brunette's waist, and pulled her in. Their lips connected and Cupid gave a sigh of relief, slipping a hand into her pocket and watching as slowly, the rag-doll type heart start to thread back together in her palm.

Satisfied with her efforts, and with one last look to the couple, Cupid twirled her fingers as the heart threaded itself together, and it vanished in a blaze of shimmering lights on her palm. She smiled, and sipped at her hot chocolate tenderly.

She slipped away into the confines of the shuddering crowd of humans, her small stature battling through the sea of bodies to the other side of the mass of people, and was spat out at the roadside. With a scoff, she waited for the stop light to switch and followed as the people of New York shot down across streets and avenues she didn't know the names of.

Tugging her beanie on her mess of blond curls, she skillfully dipped and ducked through the crowd, coming to the mouth of an alleyway. Already, she could hear the thrum of his heart as he dropped behind her, and she almost smiled.

"Thumper, didn't know you liked New York in the winter time," she teased, the loving nickname rolling off her tongue with ease as her eyes raked across the 6'1 bunny that stood tall in front of her. His mouth pursed in annoyance at the nickname, and his powerful arms crossed across the furry chest. His large ears flopped lazily, and he was fingering the edge of a boomerang.

"I don't, and I told ya' not to call me Thumper, I'm not ya' Disney character rabbit. I'mma bunny," he threatened, but there was no malice in his words as she offered him the cup of hot chocolate, a puff of her magic over the rim giving it the rare taste that his Easter eggs held. Gratefully, he swallowed the drink, wrinkling his nose at the sweetness she'd added beforehand. "You've got a thing for sweetness, haven't ya'?"

"I'm meant to be a sweet girl, and_ you're_ the one that makes chocolate."

"Shut up, Cupid."

The blond chuckles, as she taps a foot lazily against the cracked concrete beneath a boot. Her dark jeans were splattered in mud, and her black vest top tucked into her jeans waist was covered in paint and makeup. The sight was hilarious to Bunny, though he knew better than to laugh at Cupid. She was known to have a temper, and somebody with the ability to control hearts and free will was a formidable enemy.

Her eyes narrow, and a smirk like a cat's curls against her lips. "You never did answer my question, did you? What're you doing here, bunny?"

Swallowing the remains of the hot drink in a long gulp, and twitching his nose to lick a stray clot of hot warmth on his furry lip, he looked at her; his grass green eyes burned with hope. "North called for ya'_ -_ called for all'a us in fact. So, c'mon," he gave a three-timed tap of his toes and the concrete sunk beneath it, created a hole she'd seen many times on her travels. "You're coming with me, mate."

Her lips pursed as she stared down at the hole beneath his large foot, and stepped back. She gave a shake of her head. "My way's faster, I guarantee it."

Shrugging, a hint of a smile touched his lips. "Race ya.'"

He was gone down the rabbit hole before she had time to flick her fingers and in a haze of bright glitter, the large, circular dome of a room was before her eyes. Gently, a smile flickered against her lips as her eyes roamed, seeing the elves stumble about in a haze of confusion and unadulterated excitement for things she didn't know about. A yeti slid past her as she dipped and ducked and dived, and a hot air balloon spun over her head.

A laugh bubbled up and she jumped onto the railing, the wooden arm giving no identification that a sixteen year old girl was leaning precariously on it. Not a creak, not a sound in the deafening roar of orders and machinery.

She gave a large jump and spun in the air, landing neatly on the centre zone of the entire operation, on the railings that ran along the huge supporter. With a click of her fingers, Cupid switched her clothes from the dreary human ones she had adorned along her body.

They shifted, into a flowing white dress, the soft tendrils snaking away as she spun. Gold laced it's way across the hem and up the seam, an intricate pattern of swirls as the dress started off as white, and melded into a transparent, sparkling fabric at her knees. Small, brown ankle boots adorned her feet.

Suddenly, she was sent sprawling, and gave a startled yelp as she tumbled off the side into oblivion. She twisted in the air and watched as a blur of blues and yellows and greens shot towards her like a bullet, clasping it's dainty hands around her middle and dropping her delicately onto the main platform, where the other's stood.

Blinking rapidly, Cupid puffed her hair from her eyes, watching as the guardian, a woman with bright pink hues, with the colours of a hummingbird, apologized profusely for punching her off the side of the tower by accident. "_- _I didn't even see you, I was in such a rush, because North here, called _all of us;_ you understand right? _all of us,_ and I'm freaking out and trying to collect teeth and I am so sorry, I really didn't mean it, honest _-_"

A familiar large paw clamps over the tooth fairy's shoulder, and tugs her away as she begins to tend to imaginary wounds that may have somehow flitted across her pale skin. The same paw drops in front of her, and gladly, she takes it, standing swiftly.

Bunny twitches his nose, and turns to the bubbling tooth fairy who all but tries to climb over him in her hast to greet the girl properly. "Tooth, tooth! I think Cupid's alright now."

"But I didn't mean too, and she's _-_"

A large, rumbling laugh breaks her words and Cupid jumps, as the large man behind her towers over her. The curls of his twisting beard, like fresh snow, tickle her arms as he laughs, loud belly jiggling with the motion. He's a mountain of a man, with shoulder's broader than iron and a smile wider than the ocean. "Ah tooth, I believe that miss cupid is very much okay, are you not?"

The Russian accent catches her off guard, but not as much as the action of him simply grabbing her, with one large hand from behind around the shoulders, and picking her up with ease. Her eyes widen, and she looses all sense of speech as he turns her to face him, his bright blues raking across her small build with a cheerful grin.

"See? She is merely shocked, not at all scared of you, little tooth."

"North, off, _please,_" she begged, turning towards the large man, still holding her out towards the others as if she were a doll in his grasp. The older man smiled shyly, and set her back on her feet, about a metre below his shoulders.

The older man apologized, and suddenly, she felt a tap against her leg in earnest, and found herself meeting one of the two guardians she didn't know. A short man, with golden spikes, skin and robes, stared up at her with a sleepy grin on a rounded face. The warm brown hues make her smile as he gives a squeeze of her fingers.

"Oh you're...sandman, right? Never thought I'd find someone actually smaller than me," she mutters tenderly, watching how the short man chuckles and a barrage of images explode above his head. They seemed to tell a tale, and as Sandy recounted a story to her, already embedding a friendship with her, she grinned.

Looking up from the conversation, she found the three remaining guardians staring at her. North watched with a fatherly gaze, large arms crossed over his chest, and Bunny merely rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her as she spoke animatedly with the short man. Tooth smiled and nudged North. Unfortunately, North didn't get the chance to grab Cupid's attention as Tooth nudged him.

Breaking away from the conversation with the sandman politely, Cupid stepped back. "Well, uh, this has been fun meeting you guys and, it was great seeing the workshop again, but I've really got some things to do and I've got to be in England in time for some twelve year old's first kiss, so..."

But as Cupid went to click her fingers, to whisk away from the band of guardians, a large hand clamped around hers, stopping any movement of the girl's magic. A whiskered smile appeared on North's smile and she raised a brow. "Little friend, it is not time for the leaving. We have another guardian waiting to meet you."

He patted her hand, the warmth seeping from his skin onto her's and she chuckled. "Really? Who?"

"Jack Frost."

"Oh god, no."


	2. Chapter 2

He was flung high into the air, the weight of a snow flake on the sweeping hands of the wind. A laugh echoed from between ice-cold lips, and his arms spread wide, giving the impression of a star fish in mid-air. Crystal blues stared hypnotized at the earth that hovered beneath his feet.

Jack suddenly dropped, all the weight of an anvil, and smiled as he fell into the oblivion, tucking the shephard's cane close to his chest and spinning three times. Just before he hit the ground, he twisted and curved upwards into the air, a decoration of frost trailing behind him across decaying bricks and the ticking hand of a clock.

He twirled in the air, and a shower of frost rained down on the rooftops beneath him, and he shot off again, a blur of blue and white and brown. People scuttled beneath him like ants and the blue eyes scanned the streets for the sight of his friend.

Once found, he gave a shout, tilting heads to look up at him, and he was greeted with a chorus of his name on the tongue of his first believer and his friends. He dropped to the ground in front of them, the grass turning to frost beneath his curling toes. A gap-toothed grin, bright eyes and wiggling fingers greeted him as the children clambered up onto him, calling his name.

The guardian chuckled, bundling the kids into a tight hug, and though he was cold, he swore they clung tighter. With a mischievous grin, he twirled the snowball on his fingers, and the kids were sent scuttling away in horror, digging into the snow at their feet to make snowballs. Beside him, Jamie shrugged.

"You're staying for a while now, right?" The small boy stared up at him with a gap-toothed smile so full of hope, he thought of Easter. Chuckling, Jack swept the curved bridge of his cane against the frost covered ground, and snowballs rolled up from the confines of the snow; Jamie took it as a yes and swept one up and aimed for the guardian's head.

The teenager ducked away, a laugh dripping from his lips, only to dip to the side as another one sailed for his mess of white spikes. A small bundle of white appeared in his hands in seconds and it was sent flying for one of the targets in seconds, hitting a small girl between the shoulders. She stumbled forwards with a laugh as Jack skated around her.

As the snowball fight continued, Jack fell away onto the corners, leaning tiredly on his staff and smiling as the children screamed with laughter. He shook some stray snow from between the frozen spikes of white hair, but his pale blues caught something.

A figure danced between the trees, a trailing a smoke following tan skin as she twirled. His brow furrowed, and her voice sounded like a bell on the wind. "Jack..."

He shook his head, as she inched forwards, the children oblivious as the woman slipped from between the trailing branches and curled, frozen leaves. She was tall, around the same height as Jack, with flowing curls behind her in a haze. Red lips curled up into a grin, and she swung her hips as she sung his name with chords so sweet, he had to blink to stay conscious.

Suddenly, she was gone in a blur of movement, leaving him to blink away the sleep he'd been put under. In the background, he could hear the faint quivering notes of her voice, as she sang a tune that he heard on Halloween shows, derived from ancient witch hunts.

His mind burned with the memory, and he turned, watching helplessly as the children stumbled after the women, who threw her hands around aimlessly, in movements to follow her. "_Come little children, I'll take, thee away..._" helplessly, he reached his hands out towards the group of hypnotized children. He called out for Jamie, but Jamie was just a robot among them. "_Into a land, of enchantment..._"

Jack fought helplessly against the restraints this being held on him; even now, he could see her frame flickering from the delicate beauty to a grotesque vision. A siren. Her locks transformed into a sea of unruly red hair, that curled high above her head. Her skin lost it's tan, and turned translucent, the veins visible beneath it like paper. Her face lost the muscle and her teeth chattered like skeleton's bones.

In anger, his fists curled, and he suddenly stumbled from the restraints. Her head didn't even register the movement as she danced among the tree's, the zombie-like children following helplessly in automatic laughter. He dashed after them, in a haze of anger.

"_The time's come, to play, here in my garden of shadows-_"

"_NO!_" Jack screams, landing between the siren and the children with the smack of his staff against the ground. The ground screeches from beneath the impact, and a wave of snow flares up from beneath the cane's punch. The siren's eyes only register him for a moment, wondering how he escaped her sweet song, before she's thrown back in a sea of white.

The children scatter and disappear back into the light of the field opposite the woods. Jack, himself, is thrown through the branches and lands a few metres away from where he'd landed. The siren is nowhere to be seen, and with a nod to confirm this, he floats back to the gaggle of terrified children. Jamie is the first to grab him.

The children huddle towards him, questions and wonderment's picking their way through the babble and Jack tries helplessly to shush their questions. Questions he doesn't have answers too.

"Jack, what was that? Who was that woman!?" Jamie asks, clutching a frozen piece of fabric.

"How'd she hypnotize us like that!?" babbled Claude, looking around as if she'd pop out from beneath the bushes.

Jack smiles, though it's watery, and he pats down Cupcake's unruly hair as she clings to him, the usually tough girl now frightened. "Hey, hey, guys, calm down. You're okay. Look, I'll talk to North about this, but you guys go home, alright?"

Reluctantly, the children pry their hands from him and wave him off, scattering down the street in a hubbub of questions and exaggerated motions. Jack feels his cool breath fan out in front of him in anxiety. Gently, he lifts himself from the snow beneath his feet and shoots upwards, over the trees and the rooftops, and lands swiftly on a telephone wire.

He swings the shephard's cane around aimlessly, his thoughts a mess of wonderment and shock. He hadn't expected a siren to bubble up from the woods, they were mostly out at sea. But, knowing that they had curled inland and were praying on children, as well with a guardian not even a few metres away, he concluded that North would have answers.

As if the bright-eyed Russian man had heard his inner thoughts, colours shot across the sky, an oasis of blues and reds and pinks dotted the sky in swirls, and Jack smiled. He shot upwards and was sent spiralling across the endless blue sky.

It wasn't long until he ended up in the north pole, but the wind was harsher than usually. It bit at his skin, even though he was the physical embodiment of winter, and he pushed desperately against the wind to get towards North's workshop. He could see it in the haze of the snowstorm, sticking out like a sore thumb as the Aurora borealis light up the sky.

He was suddenly shot forwards, as if placed in a spring and he hurtled towards North's palace with no way of stopping. A scream ripped out of him as he suddenly threw himself through the doors, the clattering against the wind breaking the silence and he hurtled into a body. He gave a groan as they rolled, and he landed on his back, pain shooting across his body.

"Ah, right on time."

Groaning, his icy blues opened, and he found angry cerulean ones glaring up at him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey."

"Sup,' and can you _not_ do that again, dude!?" The blond threw herself off of him, adjusting the white dress that clung to her figure. She gave a growl under her breath, hardly taking notice of the boy as North pulled him upwards to his feet with a loud, rumbling laugh. Bunny stood next to the short girl, watching as she brushed imaginary dust from her clothes. Jack almost laughed as he saw her reddened fingers, the blood rushing to the coldest place of her body where she'd been touching Jack.

Turning to North, he raised a brow and jerked a thumb back towards the girl. "Whose that?"

Almost immediately, the girl shoots her head up, annoyance lacing her voice when she speaks to him. "Can't you ask me yourself, frostbite?"

Jack's brows raise high at the clipped tone, watching as Bunny snickers behind a large paw at the shocked and silenced expression on the teenager's face. In the back, Jack swears he hears an elf whistle lowly. He stalks forwards, eyes narrowing onto the girl in confusion. He gives a scoff, and pierces her with a glare. "Alright then _-_ who are you?"

"Cupid."

Jack blinks at the fast response, as she cocks a hip and stares up at him, her head of blonde locks just beneath his chin. He raises a brow, and feels a laugh bubble up from his lips, watching as the girl's angered expression turns worse, tinging her cheeks red. "No, _no,_ oh my god," he clutches his stomach, bending over with the force of the laughter. "Oh my god, no, really, who are you? Cupid's a baby with wings!"

"Stupid Greeks, I send _one_ cherub out..." she muttered, raking a hand through her locks in irritation as she watched him double over in laughter. She felt her fist curl and as she pulled it back, she felt Bunny wrap a paw around her fist, shaking his head. But still, there was a hint of a smile on Bunny's mouth.

"Isn't cupid meant to be all, I dunno, light and love?"

"Do _you_ roast chestnuts and nip people's noses? Dude, I will kick your ass."

From behind Jack, Toothiana giggles. "...I _like_ her."

Jack spears the hummingbird guardian a glare and just as he parts his lips to retort to the answer, he feels a chill he didn't create crawl across his skin. The others, however, shiver violently against the increase of cold, and stare at Jack. He shrugs his shoulders, as if to say it's not him doing it. An elf scuttles past him, and icicles form against the curves of it's elbows.

His brows furrowed as the cold suddenly stopped, the churning, violent winds melting back into the normal breeze accustomed to the North pole. Tooth dropped to her knees from the shock of the sudden cold, and he gathers her into his arms, only to have her shy away from him. Cold skin. He sighs and lets North bundle her into his powerful arms, but he's stopped as a feminine laugh rattles the room.

A shape stands precariously on the edge of the railings just in front of the globe. She giggles, and a hand digs into blond locks over her shoulder, giving a fluff. Her bright green hues glitter with malice as she steps gingerly across the splintering balance beam. "My, what a turn out."

No-one notices how Cupid's head shoots up in shock, her jaw slackening like a brick at the familiarity of the voice. Her fingers peel away from her frozen skin and she turns, cerulean blues raking across the petite figure of Miyrah, a well known siren in the spiritual world. A choked gasp flutters from her throat, and the siren grins. "Oh look, you're here too."

As the guardians regain their posture, and withdraw their weapons, the siren sighs, and steps down from her perch, a curl of a smile on her face as she rakes her eyes across the guardians. "My, what a mess I've made," she tilts her head and pops a hip. "Maybe I should clean up."

Suddenly, a blast of ice and powder shoots towards the siren, knocking her back a few steps. Jack stares in shock, and turns to his side from where the powder had shot from, finding Cupid, fingers splayed outwards and her mouth set into a thin line. She battled forwards, hardly even recognizing the shocked teenager or acknowledging the remaining guardians.

As Cupid jumped high, something that none of them knew she possessed, and swung a leg towards the siren, her ankle was caught. She was paused in mid-air and flipped suddenly, tossed away like a forgotten doll into the wall. "Really, now, sweetheart. There's no need for violence. I love the mortals_ just as much as you._"

The usually calm and collected nymph seethed from where she lay crumpled against the wall, giving a puff of air to move some blonde locks from her eyes. "You steal the hearts of mortals, and use them to better yourself," Cupid rose, her fists as white as snow at her sides. "That's not love _-_ that's _control_."

"Same old, same old."

As the girl battled forwards, she was suddenly falling through a cloud of ash, landing on the frost kissed ground, fingers splaying shakily as the siren's laugh echoed eerily on the hollow walls of the workshop. The guardians stood behind her, Sandman situating himself under her and giving her a gentle nudge to pull her back onto her feet, to where she settled against Bunny's shoulder. The siren stood atop the globe, long legs crossed and a few slender fingers cascading over her cherry-dipped lips as she giggled.

Miyrah stares down at them in malicious glee, sweeping her fingers across the exterior of the globe almost lazily, but dared not to rip her eyes away from the angered gaze. Slowly, dark twists of black sand covered the world that sat beneath her feet, an action that reminded them far too much of Pitch from years before.

Noticing the shocked gazes, Miyrah laughed again, brushing a hand through her hair. "Do you like it? Swiped it from the boogeyman, an amateur at best, but...he certainly got the job done," she curled her fingers, inspecting the nails. "Cost me a few fishermen's hearts, but what're you gonna do, hmm?"

Jack could feel the heat of Cupid's anger quiver from her body, and though he hardly knew the female, Jack laid a cool sweep of his iced fingernails against the back of her hand. She flinched at the cold touch, but still stared in front of her, and he watched as her shoulders lowered. Her breathing evened in her throat.

In front of them both, the Russian guardian raised a blade upwards in the beautiful siren's direction, indifferent to her sugar-blessed words and sent her a suspicious look. "What is it that you wish, siren?"

Jack watched as Cupid's hand fell to her heaving chest, and her breathing accelerated again, drastically. Her face bloomed blue, and his gaze grew shocked. He watched as Miyrah curled her fingers, around something invisible to their eyes, and whispered deadly. "_Their hearts._"

She disappeared in a veil of black sand, that sprouted from her fingers like soft glitter, and Cupid dropped to her knees, her hands hitting the ground as she gulped down air. They were on her in seconds, asking questions and tending to her. She swallowed the air greedily, and once she could blink her bright eyes again, she waved a hand. "Fine, fine, don't worry - I'm fine."

"Didn't look like it," cooed Tooth, brushing a hand across her flopping fringe, retracting her hand quickly when it landed on her forehead. "Oh my molars! You're _burning_, Cupid! We need to get you some ice, Jack, and _- _and North, you go _- _"

Chuckling, Cupid gripped Toothiana's fingers gently, supporting her friend when she panicked. _Friend?_ "Tooth, I'm fine, really, it was n_-_noth-"

"_What?_" Jack queries, now sitting atop the railing, his pale fingers dancing across a block of ice, breaking it apart and twirling the cracked pieces around his index finger. "It was what, because if you say that was _nothing,_ I'm _not_ believing it."

"Stuff a sock in it, Frost," Bunny proceeds to shove a spare piece of fabric into the boys mouth, ripped from the cloth he held filled with the ice that Jack had made, and the force of it topples Jack over the edge into the oblivion. No-one darts forwards to see if he was okay, as he floated back up and over the railing, glaring at the rabbit that kneels beside the nymph.

Tooth handed the girl the cloth filled with ice, and pressed it towards her forehead, the temperature decreasing. The blond gave a sigh, and Bunny gave a nudge of her shoulder. "What was it, mate? What happened?"

To their surprise, Cupid chuckled, pulling the cloth from her hands and bouncing it back and forth between her finger's, staring almost shy towards the ground, the frost dwindling away around her frozen toes. "It's sorta ironic really. I'm the only nymph that doesn't have a heart _-_ and Miyrah's got it."


End file.
